The recession might still be biting but e-retail still shows some healthy gains. Just recently the on-line fashion store ASOS revealed that pre-tax profits were up a massive 93% to £14 million in the year to March 31 2009.

Total sales doubled to £165.4 million in the same period, up from £81 million the previous year. In just 13 weeks to June 26 sales increased a huge 52%. Over the year, international sales grew by 303% to £32.2 million.
Chief executive Nick Robertson is reported as saying: “It’s clear that the structural shift to online continues and I believe that ASOS is ideally placed to exploit it. I expect our international business to grow substantially in the years to come.”

The dedicated online store ASOS Outlet launched in September 200. It sells last season’s fashion at up to 70% off. In February 2009 ASOS launched Designer Brands at ASOS and kids clothing brand Little ASOS.

While Google still reigns, Yahoo and Microsoft have been waging a huge battle in the search engine industry.

Just last year Yahoo rejected Microsoft’s offer to buy the company and many people seemed to give up on the search engine. Then Carol Bartz took over at Yahoo and expectations changed again.

While some people believe it would be an impossible task to make much of a gain on Google, others are wondering if Bartz might now, in fact, do a deal with Microsoft. Or perhaps all the changes that she is initiating in the company, including a rebrand, will be enough to turn the fortunes of Yahoo around.

Then there are Microsoft’s own efforts. The company recently launched Bing and although it is still too early to tell, initial data reports have been promising. Nielsen Online found that on Bing’s first day it came close to surpassing Yahoo Search for the second spot.

It’s widely believed that Microsoft will need to continue to innovate the user experience if they want to grow Bing’s audience but things are looking positive for the search engine company just now.

And what about Google? The other search engines do have a long way to go to catch up with the leader but there are reports that Google insiders are a little unsettled by Bing.

Only time will tell – but it would seem that the Battle for Search Engine Supremacy is only now heating up.